A miniature electromechanical generator design utilizing human motion

Abstract

The use of Faraday's Law to design and realize a miniature electromechanical generator that converts mechanical energy from human motion into stored electrical energy was investigated in this thesis. The design incorporates simple materials composed of ferrite cores, a coil, springs and permanent magnets to convert mechanical energy provided by a user to electrical energy for storage. The generator takes advantage of a dual air-gapped electromechanical system with permanent magnets to regulate flux through a coil around a high-permeability ferrite core. Use of a compression force provided by the user reduces the air gaps in the system, causing a rapid change in flux resulting in an electromotive force that produces a current in the circuit. Laboratory testing of a generator prototype design verifies energy production of the mechanism and investigates the relationship between the inductance range of operation for the generator and its performance characteristics. Storage of energy produced by the generator is demonstrated using two different rectification circuits and is examined during different stages of one full stroke of the generator device. Additionally, this thesis presents a simulation that models the electromechanical energy conversion.